26. Cleveland Browns sign Sheldon Richardson
Last year, the Cleveland Browns were one of the more entertaining teams, especially in the second half. After firing head coach Hue Jackson and turning things over to Gregg Williams, Cleveland went 5-3 down the stretch and entered Week 17 looking for a winning record.
Unfortunately, the Browns wound up losing that game, but it was still impressive to go from 0-16 the season prior to being in position for a winning campaign.
In their final loss of the season, the Browns had a serious weakness exposed. The Baltimore Ravens had their way with them on the ground, as their offensive line manhandled the Cleveland front-four.
Baltimore ended up running the ball 47 times to the tune of 296 yards and two touchdowns. That proved to e the difference in a 26-24 game that allowed the Ravens to win the AFC North. It also proved to general manager John Dorsey that he needed to make some changes to the Cleveland defense.
While the Browns did add plenty of talent in the draft, their biggest move to try to shore up their run defense came early in free agency. Dorsey went out and signed former first-round pick Sheldon Richardson to a three-year, $36 million contract with $21 million of that being guaranteed.
Richardson, who was on the Minnesota Vikings in 2018, is coming off a strong campaign in which he had 49 tackles and 4.5 sacks. He’s going to join a line that included defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi and edge rushers Myles Garrett and Olivier Vernon. That group will be much harder to run for nearly 300 yards against.